Hindi,Urdu: dhaare

[MonsieurGonzalito]

Friends,

In the following stanza, what does "dhaare" mean?

merii apnii maujeN haiN, mere apne dhaare haiN
aazaad baashiNdaa huuN, maiN apne rab kaa baNdaa huuN

This belongs to the theme track of the movie "Dabangg 3". It is basically the hero singing in first person, saying how he makes his own path in life.

In Hindi, it is always transliterated as धारे and transliterated as "currents or flows", which doesn't make sense to me.
First, because dhārā ( धारा / دھارا) is feminine, so I would expect something like dhaaraa'eN for a plural.
Second, "mere apne" should be "merii apnii" in that case.

Another acception of dhārā is a part of a law code, but the same problem remains, it is feminine.

It could also be that the whims (maujeN) are "flowing from" him, with the "from" elided?

Please orient me.

 

[Alfaaz]

aazaad baashiNdaa huuN, maiN apne rab kaa baNdaa huuN

baashindah; rabb; bandah

dhārā ( धारा / دھارا) is feminine

dhaaraa can actually be both feminine and masculine (Feroz-ul-Lughat; Urdu Lughat: see literary examples).

whims (maujeN)

I have not heard the lyrics you have quoted so cannot comment on the meaning in the specific context, but please note that the primary meaning of موج | امواج is wave | waves.

 

[littlepond]

I need to hear the song (again), because that is indeed odd if the singer is referring to "dhaar" (edge), which is feminine and so should be "merii apnii dhaareN", or "dhaaraa" (stream), which is also feminine and so should be "merii apnii dhaaraaeN". Alfaaz jii mentions that "dhaaraa" is both masculine and feminine: maybe, but to a Hindi ear, if that's what is meant, it would sound very odd. But then poetic license can always be used.

 

[desi4life]

^ Even “dhaar” is sometimes used as a masculine noun. See the following Oxford Hindi dictionary entry: The Oxford Hindi-English dictionary. It is probably a regional tendency.

 

[Alfaaz]

A few relevant lyrical examples:

اٹھلاتی یہ شوخ ہوائیں بہتی ندیا چنچل دھارے
کھلتی کلیاں اڑتے بادل سچ مانو یہ سب ہیں تمہارے
جیون بھر کے ہیں یہ سہارے پیار کرو تو ان سے کرو
یہ موسم یہ مست نظارے پیار کرو تو ان سے کرو
کرتے ہیں یہ تم کو اشارے پیار کرو تو ان سے کرو

ب. ا. دیپ (بشیر احمد) از پاکستانی اردو فلم درشن ۱۹۶۷​

iThlaatii yeh shox hawaa'eN behtii nadiyaa chanchal dhaare
khiltii kaliyaaN uRte baadal sach maano yeh sab haiN tumhaare
jeevan-bhar ke haiN yeh saahaare pyaar karo to in se karo
yeh mausam yeh mast naZaare pyaar karo to in se karo
karte haiN yeh tumko ishaare pyar karo to in se karo

B. A. Deep (Bashir Ahmad) az Pakistani Urdu Film Darshan (1967)

تو گنگا کی موج میں جمنا کا دھارا

شکیل بدایونی از بھارتی فلم بیجو باورا ۱۹۵۲​

tu gangaa kii mauj, maiN jamnaa kaa dhaaraa

Shakeel Badayuni az Bhaartii Film Baiju Bawra (1952)

کہنے کو جشن بہاراں ہے عشق یہ دیکھ کے حیراں ہے
پھول سے خوشبو خفا خفا ہے گلشن میں
چھپا ہے کوئی رنج فضاء کی چلمن میں
سارے سہمے نظارے ہیں سوئے سوئے وقت کے دھارے ہیں

جاوید اختر از بھارتی فلم جودھا اکبر ۲۰۰۸​

kahne ko jashn-e-bahaaraaN hai 3ishq yeh dekh ke HairaaN hai
phool se xushbuu xafaa xafaa hai gulshan meN
chhupaa hai ko'ii ranj fazaa2 kii chilman meN
saare sahme naZaare haiN so'e so'e waqt ke dhaare haiN

Javed Akhtar az Bhaaratii Film Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

 

[MonsieurGonzalito]

tu gangaa kii mauj, maiN jamnaa kaa dhaaraa

Shakeel Badayuni az Bhaartii Film Baiju Bawra (1952)

It has to refer to this kind of mental image in the "collective imaginary".
Amazing song, BTW, I just listened to it!

Thanks, @Alfaaz, @littlepond, @desi4life

 

[littlepond]

Thanks a lot, @Alfaaz jii!

 

[bakshink]

In Hindi, it is always transliterated as धारे and transliterated as "currents or flows", which doesn't make sense to me.
First, because dhārā ( धारा / دھارا) is feminine, so I would expect something like dhaaraa'eN for a plural.
Second, "mere apne" should be "merii apnii" in that case.
I think it is the poetic license or freedom that he has enjoyed. If at all it has to be used as a plural, it should be धारें

 

[littlepond]

I think it is the poetic license or freedom that he has enjoyed. If at all it has to be used as a plural, it should be धारें

But that would be the plural of feminine "dhaar". @Alfaaz jii has already given numerous examples of Hindi songs where "dhaar" is being used in the masculine, plus an Urdu dictionary is giving that gender as well.

 

[aevynn]

This is certainly beating a dead horse, given the numerous examples we've already seen, but anyway... Here are several more examples I've run into in recent days that use dhaaraa as a masculine noun which follows the same declension pattern as laRkaa.

From the 1959 film Dhool Ka Phool, the song jhuktii ghaTaa gaatii hawaa sapne jagaae (lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi and sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle) has the following usage of dhaare as a plural:

​

mahke hue, bahke hue, mast nazaare​

nikhre hue, bikhre hue, rang ke dhaare​

From the 1965 film Waqt, the song din haiN bahaar ke... (again, lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi and sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle), has the following usage of dhaare as a singular oblique towards the end:

​

jiinaa hai to kashtii ko dhaare pe Daal de​

dhaare kii god meN ghere bhii hai majhdhaar ke​

And then, in the children's poem duniya sabkii by Safdar Hashmi, we have the following occurence of dhaare again as a plural:

​

jo bhii miltaa use sunaataa​

apne duniyaa-gyaan ka gaanaa:​

"apan ne duniyaa dekhii pyaare,​

dekhe hamne chaand-sitaare​

parbat, jangal, nadii ke dhaare,​

Taapuu, saagar, aur kinaare..."​